The minutes honoring former Chaplain Charles Scott's retirement from the Religion Department, explain "[Scott] argued that if the religious life was to remain a respected and vital dimension of experience in a College community, there should be a Religion Department...In this way Charles Scott founded the Religion Department." However, academic courses concerning Religion had been offered for decades by that point, and the Religion Department, named as such had been around for almost ten years. This presentation will explore the place of religion in the academic curriculum from roughly the 1920's through the 1960's, starting with the Department of Bible Studies headed briefly by President Moody, moving to President Stratton's appointment and the start of the non-president chaplain, ending with Charley Scott's arrival, the end of the mandatory chapel program, and the creation of the major in Religion. ÂÂ
